Chapter The Last~

When they finally picked a path back to the street, John kissed the ground that Sherlock was very gingerly limping on.

He stood ,staggering, looking at the scene.

Just at that moment, Irene looked up. She was being lead hand-cuffed into a helicopter, that would first go to Seville, where she would direct them to Pandora headquarters so that they could shut them down, and then was heading back to England, where she would be expressly terminated by firing squad.

It was strange ,...the smile on her face. Almost happy. Happy to see the man who had convicted her ..

"Goodbye, Sherlock Holmes." she texted his phone, her personal tone making its vulgar sound that always made everyone who heard it cringe a bit. Sherlock read the message ,and looked up, to see her waving goodbye.

He reached up a hand, and waved goodbye in turn. Here at the end,he was totally at peace with it all. She would be brought to justice, like she ought to be. But they had parted on almost friendly terms.

John sat up on his knees, praising the Lord that he was on land, when he saw it. Just for a second, before they whisked it up on a gurney, and zipped it into a body bag. Mary's body.

He froze, remembering the beautiful young nurse from Afghanistan. The woman of his dreams. And then suddenly, slowly, sadly...he smiled. Deciding to leave her there, in his dreams. As if Mary Morstan was a figment of his imagination ,and nothing more. The body that they were taking away belonged to Pandora. Forgiving Mary, and letting Pandora die, it was the only way that he could live with this. He slowly got to his feet, and Sherlock laid a heavy hand on his shoulder, having seen her too.

The exchanged glances,and a smile. It was done. All of the betrayals, the domestic wars, the poisonous deals and dramas. Now it was finally done. There were no more bridges left to burn. Their lives would always be littered with problems, bad cases and people making threats...That was just their life, and it was good ,despite everything. But their days in hell were done. They had survived. Resurfaced better men. As brothers, closer than they would have been ,had fire not touched them. Even though it had been a bitter time, it had been a good time. They nodded with a mutual understanding, and turned to see them cleaning Magnusson off the pavement, putting him in a body bag as well.

"What...exactly...did you do to your hand?" Sherlock asked, having put it all together now.

"I did a handstand off the top of the Empire State building's spike. It poked into my hand hard enough to leave a hole. But I slipped right through his fingers..."

"Guess somebody had to fall...And this time ...it wasn't me..." Sherlock suddenly got hoarse, and shook his head, trying not to think about it.

Mycroft sauntered over to them from out of the middle of the chaos, hair standing up like a cow had licked it, face dirty from gunpowder and smoke.

"Well, the fire Morstan had begun to build was very successfully put out. And because of the fire and the shoot-out ,it looks like you evaded the papers this time. Keep out of the news,Sherlock. You're supposed to be dead."

Sherlock sighed, and his knees started knocking, "I feel...oddly faint?" he said, and teetered.

"I'll get a wheel chair from one of the paramedics, brother mine. When I said you are supposed to be dead, I meant it only in theory. Please don't get any ideas, I've had enough scares from you the last few months ,to last an entire lifetime..Oi!..." Mycroft began to turn to do as he had said, when the Major tugged ,in a kiddy way, at his sleeve.

"Oh? Hello, Major, what is it?"

" About dinner, sir. We should probably take advantage of the American cuisine while we still have a chance, sir...Hamburgers and corn on the cob for the lot of us...I have money to contribute, if we could convert it to American bills?"

Mycroft smiled..." I'll supply dinner tonight, Major. For your trouble."

And with a flourish Mycroft walked off.

Meredith was whining, still locked in the cop car. Chief Honors was chatting with Sally and Anderson, and they were all gafawing about how they had taken down Kitty Reilly,and locked her up in the back of Honor's car with Greg's treacherous wife.

Greg slipped up next to Molly, who stood placidly silent now, staring at the scene, trying to process all the madness since...well since Baskerville Island. Wondering when she got a chance to go back to her normal ,boring life for a little while. Or at least, a chance for less life-threatening adventures. Greg suddenly, awkwardly, cleared his throat.

"Getting straight to the point...I've always thought you were rather cute." he said, and she turned about, one brow curled ,confused. "And...well...my wife...She just tried to kill me these last few days...err...Do you have a boyfriend? Oh, uh...sorry...I just thought, maybe we could go have coffee, and you know, just chat...get to know each other a little better...well if we're both single now?"

Molly smiled..."No...no I don't have one...a boyfriend! Coffee...would be good. Ok!" she laughed.

The paramedics tended very carefully to both Sherlock and John. And a few moments later, the two of them were racing down the sidewalk in wheelchairs, deducing passerby, and chatting with half a dozen said passerby who had witnessed today's events. The others had given up trying to keep up,and were trailing behind, their new friend Chief Honors, or Morgan as he had insisted they call him, being in company with them. Greg's officially as soon as the paperwork cleared ex-wife had been taken away with some of Mycroft's people, as Mycroft had decided it would be better to leave in quiet small groups, than in some mass-exodus that would cause suspicion. They had told the press all about a terrorist trying to light the Empire State Building on fire with people inside of it, but they had left the Exterminator and Sherlock Holmes bits out. Instead they gave all the glory to the NYPD ,to avoid security breaches and all of that, and everybody liked this best, the cops getting the respect and attention for their hard work they felt they deserved, and Sherlock and company getting the privacy and benefit of their hard work that they felt they deserved. Greg was walking side by side Molly and they were chatting pleasantly, deciding they rather liked each other and might like to go on a few dates to make up for how bad their recent romances had treated them. Sally and Anderson were still snickering about what they had done to Reilly, and then Anderson was excitedly waving his hands about and telling them all about Appledore. Major had his head buried in a travel guide, reading off all the restaurant chains, trying to pick the best one for them all, the decision being left up to him. He chewed his nails, "Ah, but they all look so good!"

And then it came to him, as if by design. Sherlock had crashed into a trash-can, (speeding down the sidewalk when one really doesn't know how to pilot a wheel-chair,and also having serious vertigo from recently being poisoned, never being a good idea). He had toppled head first into the trash,and John was behind him, swiveling madly in his own chair, trying to peel him out of the can, and land him on the seat of his pants back in his chair.

Major rushed to their assistance, and by chance looked up to see a little street corner restaurant that said, "Taste of Home Bar and Grill" on the sign.

Mycroft rolled his eyes, and said something snarky to Sherlock, who came up out of the trash can eyes bobbing about in his head like a sucker punched gold-fish. Molly discreetly came and plucked a banana peel off his head, putting it back in the can. John was laughing his head off, until he realized that he had accidentally somehow gotten gum from the trash can stuck on the wheels of his chair, and had to be plucked up out of it, chair and all, by the Major's great strength.

Greg, Sally,and Anderson all stepped back, taking in the scene. Major pointed. "Good God, this place SMELLS like heaven. I choose this one!" he cried, and Morgan was reciting the menu for him, telling him how much they were all gonna love it.

"We're...well...sorry about...your wife, Greg...All of this has been so crazy...I don't suppose anyone has remembered to care that it's been really bad for you..." Sally began, trying to find words for the moment.

Greg shook his head, "It's ok ,you know? I just realized something."

He clapped both arms over one of Sally's shoulders, and one of Anderson's.

"We're like our own little mixed nuts family ,you know?It's great! I'm content to be just...I don't know...one of us?"

Anderson smiled as they went into the restaurant, and looked over at Sally, who smiled back, thinking the same thing. All the BIG trouble was finally over. Things were going to be different now. A good different. He could feel it...

The End~